Tottenham Hotspur are now eyeing Ruslan Malinovskyi as their eighth signing of the summer transfer window, according to reports...

What's the word?

Italian outlet Tutto Atalanta claim that Spurs are in 'pole position' to sign the Atalanta midfielder as they plot a loan-to-buy agreement with the Serie A outfit.

It's thought that the north Londoners have leapfrogged Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest in the race for the 29-year-old, who would be keen on the opportunity to play in the English capital for a team competing in the Champions League.

Although it remains to be seen what sort of finances surround this potential deal.

The Ukraine international is currently valued at €30m (£25m) by CIES Football Observatory, who assess the transfer value of professional footballers on a scientific basis, whilst Calciomercato believe La Dea's asking price could be around €20m (£17m).

Better than Zaniolo

After signing young wing-back Destiny Udogie from Italian rivals Udinese on Tuesday, it appears as if the Lilywhites' attentions have turned onto Malinovskyi in manager Antonio Conte's hunt for a new creative piece in his midfield.

Tottenham have been heavily mooted with interest in Nicolo Zaniolo of AS Roma in recent weeks but based on last season, the Atalanta star is a far greater talent, even if he's going to be 30 years of age by the end of the current campaign.

Once described as having a "cannon in his left boot" by ex-Leeds United man Tony Dorigo, Malinovskyi outperformed the Giallorossi dynamo across the board.

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Not only did he manage more goal contributions, providing six goals and five assists compared to Zaniolo's two goals and one assist but he did so in fewer starts, registering just 19 from his 30 appearances, whereas the Roma ace started 23 of his 28 matches, per FBref.

In terms of shooting, Malinovskyi led the way with 3.28 shots per 90 and 0.35 goals per shot, which was far greater than the Italian's 0.10 per 90.

Meanwhile in terms of creativity - a key factor here for Conte  - the Atalanta man recorded more shot-creating (5.03 per 90) and goal-creating actions (0.45 per 90) than Zaniolo (3.70 per 90 and 0.41 per 90).

He even does more defensively, too, having managed 1.53 tackles and 1.3 blocks per 90, which also exceeds that of Jose Mourinho's star man.

Malinovskyi could well be the man that Conte needs to provide some creativity in the engine room - his statistical profile has been likened to that of Nabil Fekir, James Maddison and Mason Mount by FBref, so it's evident that the Italian head coach would be getting someone well-suited to the Premier League.

The 29-year-old, who has been dubbed a "playmaker" by Evening Standard journalist Simon Collings in the past, must now be high on sporting director Fabio Paratici's priority list.

Evidently, Spurs could not only fix their creative void but could land a considerably better player than mooted target, Zaniolo, and as such, they should look to get this one over the line before it's too late, with less than two weeks left to go in the summer transfer window.

AND in other news, Spurs "interested" in £34m-rated "big talent", he's a true heir to £100k-p/w "legend"...